How to Find and Fix 404 Errors in WordPress

If you run a website, sooner or later you’ll run into 404 errors in WordPress — that blunt “Page not found” message that shows up when someone requests an address that no longer exists. It’s not a disaster, but it’s not something to ignore either: every 404 means a lost visitor, a link that leads nowhere and, over time, a weak signal for Google. The good news is that most of them can be found and fixed in minutes, once you know where to look.

What a 404 code actually means

404 is an HTTP response code through which the server tells you plainly: “I received the request, but I have nothing at this address.” Unlike a 500 error (a server problem) or a 403 (access denied), a 404 is strictly about a missing resource.

On a WordPress site, a 404 can come from a deleted page, a post with a changed slug, a moved image or simply a mistyped address. What matters is telling apart the “normal” 404s (someone invented a URL) from the ones that actually cost you — broken internal links or pages that had traffic and rankings in Google.

How to find 404 errors in WordPress

Don’t rely on luck and don’t wait for an unhappy customer to email you. You have a few sources that show you exactly which addresses return a 404:

• Google Search Console — in the “Pages” section you’ll see the exact URLs flagged as “Not found (404)”, the ones Google actually encountered.
• A redirect plugin (Redirection, for example) that automatically logs every real 404, with the date and source.
• Server logs or a crawl tool (Screaming Frog) that goes through the whole site and reports broken links.
• Manual testing of important pages after any migration, category rename or permalink change.

Combine at least two sources: Search Console shows you what Google sees, while a logging plugin shows you what real visitors hit, in real time.

Why 404 errors actually happen

To fix them for good, you need to understand the cause, not just the symptom. In practice, most 404 errors in WordPress have one of these explanations:

You changed the permalink structure under Settings → Permalinks without adding redirects. You deleted or set to draft a post that was already indexed. You renamed a slug to make it sound better, forgetting that the old address was already circulating through links and shares. Or you migrated the site to another domain without mapping the old URLs.

There’s also a special case: if every page gives you a 404 but the homepage works, it’s almost certainly a permalink issue. Go to Settings → Permalinks and hit “Save” — this regenerates the rewrite rules and often fixes everything.

How to fix 404 errors step by step

1. Redirect what’s worth saving

If the old page had traffic, backlinks or Google rankings, set up a 301 redirect to the most relevant new page. It’s the clean solution: it passes on the authority and takes the visitor where they should be. You can do it with the Redirection plugin or directly in your server configuration.

2. Leave a 404 where it belongs

Don’t redirect everything to the homepage. A page that genuinely has no equivalent should stay a 404 (or 410 “Gone”) — that’s how Google understands it can drop the address from the index. Mass redirects to the front page are treated as soft 404s and hurt your signals.

3. Fix internal links

When you find a broken link in your own articles, fix it right there in the content. It’s the easiest win: you remove the 404 at the source instead of patching it with a redirect.

4. Customize your 404 page

Even with every fix in place, some 404s will always exist. A well-designed 404 page — with a search box, links to your services and a friendly tone — turns a dead end into a second chance to keep the visitor.

How to prevent 404 errors going forward

Prevention is cheaper than repair. Before you delete or rename anything, ask yourself whether the address is already indexed or linked, and prepare the redirect from the start. Check Search Console and your 404 log regularly, especially after major updates. And if you want a complete picture of your site’s technical health, a technical SEO audit surfaces not just the 404s, but also redirect chains, broken links and orphan pages.

404 errors never disappear entirely — nor should they, since they’re part of every site’s life. The difference between a well-kept site and a neglected one is how fast you find them and how smartly you decide what to redirect and what to let die gracefully. If you want to know exactly how many 404s you have right now, you can start with a free audit and work from a clear list instead of guesswork.